Stakeholder perceptions of CO2 capture and storage in Europe: Results from a survey

During 2006, a survey was conducted of European energy stakeholders (industry, government, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), researchers and academicians and parliamentarians). A total of 512 responses was received from 28 countries as follows: industry (28%), research (34%), government (13%), NGOs (5%) and parliamentarians (4%). Three-quarters of the sample thought that widespread use of CO2 capture and storage (CCS) was ‘definitely’ or ‘probably necessary’ to achieve deep reductions in CO2 emissions between now and 2050 in their own country. Only one in eight considered that CCS was ‘probably’ or ‘definitely not necessary’. For a range of 12 identified risks, 20–40% thought that they would be ‘moderate’ or ‘very serious’, whilst 60–80% thought that there would be no risks or that the risks would be ‘minimal’. A particular risk identified by nearly half the sample is the additional use of fossil fuels due to the ‘energy penalty’ incurred by CCS. Further concerns are that development of CCS would detract from investment in renewable energy technologies. Half of the respondents thought that incentives for CCS should be set either at the same level as those for renewables or at a higher level. Environmental NGOs were consistently less enthusiastic about CCS than the energy industry.